The four
“subspecies” of the Pseudacristriseriata complex currently
recognized by Conant and Collins (1998), including P. maculata (boreal
chorus frogs), were initially characterized based on color pattern and morphological
variation across their geographic distribution (Smith and Smith, 1952; Harper, 1955;
Smith, 1956). Platz and Forester (1988) and Platz (1989) elevated the
“subspecies” to specific status using morphometric data and advertisement
call characters. However, recent phylogenetic analyses based on DNA sequence data
indicate that the currently drawn range borders of subspecies in the triseriata
complex do not reflect the distributions of true evolutionary lineages (Moriarty and
Cannatella, in preparation). Because the identity and distributions
of these anurans have not been resolved, we consider the members of this group together
under a Pseudacristriseriata complex account.